Around the turn of this century, a lot of people were talking about “the death of books.” Audio books were booming, and the first e-readers were making their assault, unsuccessfully as it turned out. I declared myself a Patesaurus, an obviously threatened species that would go to its grave clutching a real book, perhaps Sven Birkerts’ The Gutenberg Elegies. I did not think books were dead, but I was afraid, like Birkerts, about “the fate of reading in an electronic age.”
I’m still worried, but that didn’t stop me from recently buying a Nook, the e-book produced by Barnes & Noble. I had been thinking about a Kindle, an iPhone, a Sony and, of course, an iPad. But then I walked into my local B&N, where I had previously played around with a Nook, and was greeted by a booth front and center. Nooks now had free 3G wireless and an Internet browser. And I didn’t have to order one. They were in stock in the store. A half hour later, I was heading home to charge my Nook. Within minutes, it found the nearest WiFi hotspot, downloaded its new software with no prompting, and I soon found myself reading Pride and Prejudice. Along with Dracula and Little Women, Austen’s novel came pre-loaded on the Nook, which I started calling Nanook, my new companion in the digital wilderness.
Since then, I’ve have spent a good many hours with Nanook, learning how to easily navigate the touch screen controls, discovering that sometimes you scroll up instead of down, or left instead of right. I have changed screensavers and wallpapers, played with fonts and type sizes, used the Internet to connect to this blog and Yahoo. I’ve also purchased and downloaded several books — Jim Butcher’s Storm Front, China Mieville’s The City and the City, Candace Bushnell’s The Carrie Diaries — and sideloaded from my computer a couple of digital galleys of forthcoming books. I’m having fun.
I also feel a bit like a traitor, even though I’ve been reading regular hardcovers in between. And I rather suspect the Nanook’s novelty will soon wear off, like that of my iPod. It will be great gadget for travel, and I won’t be lugging a heavy bookbag every time I leave home. But there’s enough Patesaurus in me that still loves the look and feel and smell of books, the security of all those volumes stacked every whichaway around the house, crammed on shelves floor to ceiling. Me and books go way back, and I expect that to continue.
I did, however, buy a cover for Nanook, a custom leaf-green leather folder that holds it firmly in place yet allows me to easily access its controls. It’s more like a book now. And a quote from the 19th-century writer Martin Tupper is imprinted on the front and continues on the back: “A good book is the best of friends, the same today and forever.”
I have a purple cover, which makes me giggle like a little girl. Hey I have always maintained that I have enough literary love in my heart for everyone…printed books, audio books and my Kindle. Boy those e-readers are dangerous though. I have a glass of wine or two, start reading blogs and away I go, ordering like a nut.
I admire your willingness to explore new technology ! You are a much better woman than I am.
; )
Hope you are well ! I am writing short stories and blowing people away with them … wanna sample ?
PS The day that I gamely succumb and buy a Nook or a whatever, that’s the day that they will pull the plug. The Plug. [That’s how my life runs– I am always at the forefront of coincidence tempered by irony.]
And so we’ll have to go into our attics and basements and there, in the dim light, using our sense of smell, we’ll find paper copies of the things we loved to read. Funny how those paper-and-ink compositions never disappear into the cybersphere…
@Sandy — yes, it’s awfully easy to push that “buy” button. Still hitting “sample” first.
@Jim — are you going to e-mail me a short story, or is there a site to go to? And I’ll still be carrying books(s) around. I depend on nothing that depends on batteries!
I love my Kindle. It does not replace my hard cover books but it is great for travel or drop in your purse if you are going to a Dr.’s appt. Also, when it is 1:00AM and you just found a book you have to have!
shhhh…. i’ve been thinking of getting an e-reader, too…..
but yes on the batteries. my laptop lasts about two hours, tops. books last longer.
I’m trying to convince my significant other that an e-reader will reduce my dependence on physical books, and thus worth the investment.
He just looked and me then laughed.
“You will never stop buying books,” he said.
Yeah — I didn’t have a comeback for that one. He knows me well. Still, that hasn’t killed the techie lust I have for the Nook.